Chapter 8

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8:1-4 Matthew is lucid on the point that everywhere Jesus went multitudes would gather, showing the broad acceptance of His teachings. Leprosy was incurable in Jesus’ day and highly contagious. The skin would shrivel up layer by layer. Victims would lose extremities and eventually bleed to death. Jesus did not need to touch this man to heal him. He touched him anyway.
8:5-13 Jesus astonished many people, but here was a man who astonished Jesus. It was astonishing that a Roman would actually come to a Jew for help, especially a high military official. The selflessness of doing this for one of his servants was even more astonishing. Jesus was willing to make the trip with him, but this man would not infringe on Jesus’ precious time. This foreigner had more faith in Jesus than the children of Israel.
8:14-17 If Peter had a mother-in-law than he was married. If he was married, he was not a pope as some claim. Jesus being able to heal ALL the sick was what separated him from phony faith healers of our day. His healings fulfilled yet another messianic prophecy.
8:18-22 Luke (9:57-62) gives a more expanded version of this account. The scribes were generally opposed to Jesus. Jesus warned this scribe that following Him could mean financial hardship. The second followers’ father was probably not dead yet. If he was this son would be making funeral arrangements, but he had to be living at home when his father died to receive his inheritance. That was, most likely, what he wanted to wait for.
8:23-27 Jesus had to have been exhausted to sleep through a storm like this. The Sea of Galilee was only 7 miles wide and 13 miles long but was capable of severely turbulent conditions. To think that Jesus would allow His apostles to drown, shows how puny their faith was. They had no inkling He could command the weather.
8:28-34 As Jesus and His disciples landed on the foreign southeast bank of Galilee, late in the evening, two madmen with busted handcuffs dangling from their hands and feet came running at them out of the graveyard. What would you do? The demons knew all about Jesus and their appointment for punishment. The town’s people knew only fear.

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